Canadian Association of Diving Contractors

The Winter 2015-2016 edition of the CADC Magazine is available. (excerpt from the executive director) The new CSA Diving Operations Standard Z275.2-15 is now out. There was extensive revision to the previous document and it is an accumulation of thousands of man/company hours of input into its changes. It is a living document; it is updated and reviewed continually in preparation for its next edition (2020).

As I attended the fall CSA Diving Standards Committee in Mississauga this past November, I gazed around the room and was amazed at the diversity and experience of the committee members, made up of diving companies and associations (ours included), public service divers, military divers, scientific divers, schools, medical doctors, regulators, direct users and interested stakeholders.

It is voluntary to serve on the committees. It is a national effort. All of the members were focusing on making a workable standard that protects the safety of the diver and the industry. The “trick” of formulating the standard is that it is designed to be a minimum standard; one, that if followed, gives the diver a safe operational standard to survive and come home at the end of the day.

You can always make it “safe,” but would it be workable? It’s not as easy as you would think. The discussions are lively but not adversarial. We all have the same goal.

But there is a downside to the work done on these committees. The effort that goes into the standards seems, at times, to have fallen by the wayside when we observe that we have jurisdictions that simply do not enforce them or adapt them. Vern Johnston, our current CADC president, discusses the situation and why it is one of the biggest safety problems in our industry today. Read his column on page XX to find out why.

When a dive crew arrives at the job-site, are they competent to do the task they’re assigned and can they do it safely? Do they have the right stuff? Dave Geddes, CSA 275.4 Committee chair on Competency, clarifies what is expected as far as qualification of personnel on a jobsite and what they can and cannot do. Bob Clarke, ASI-Group, does the same about remotely operated vehicles operations.

Using computers to document and control a dive station used to be a diver geek’s fantasy.

Advances in computer technology (and robustness) have developed a breed of useful systems that benefit the industry and safety. Dave Geddes—this time in the role as a dive supervisor—tells of his field experience with one such computer system by Axsub, a CADC member.

A three-man dive crew has been recognized in the past as a standard “safe’ dive crew. In some jurisdictions, it is allowed. But what happens when the unthinkable happens and your diver is trapped or in trouble? Who is going to be the rescue diver? Where is the other tender? Who goes for help? Who mans the rack? Who does what? Gord Hay, CADC director and dive school operator, gives us that very scenario in Diver’s Safety: When Three is Never Enough.

On July 15, 2015, 39-year-old diver Luke Seabrook was sucked into and partially through stop logs on a tidal power dam while inspecting gates at the Nova Scotia Power’s Annapolis Tidal Power Plant. It took hours before his body was recovered. Initial unsubstantiated information about the operation indicates multiple mistakes were made on the dive site and that the accident could have been prevented. The dangers encountered during diving in Delta-P environments generated a guideline document by the CSA Dive Standards Committee. The article on page XX gives an overview of the document and emphasizes it is a public document distributed for free by the Canadian Association of Diving Contractors (CADC). It is something you need in your library. It is something you should follow when in that situation.

Canada, in the winter, is only one thing: COLD! That means diving in, around and under ice.

Our special, two-page photo spread of what our members do focuses on the cold. Have a look and bring warm woolies, a non-leaking drysuit, a sense of humour, and a hot coffee. Shakin’ all over…Elvis had it better. Gotta love it!

Sadly, since the last issue, our formal executive director Jim Wilson passed away quietly at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre veterans’ hospital. During Jim’s tenure at the CADC, he guided the formation of the Diver Certification Board of Canada, a separate and independent certification agency spun off by the CADC. He received a lifetime achievement award for his service to the industry by DCBC and was an active CSA Diving Standards member on the Hyperbarics standard. Rest in peace, Jim.

It is now winter and heading into spring. This issue will make a splash at the ADCI’s Underwater Intervention show in New Orleans, February 23 to 25, 2016 and at the Canadian Underwater

Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, April 3 to 5, 2016. Attending these shows keeps you abreast of what is happening in the industry. Education and knowledge makes for a safer industry. Hope to see you there.

Stay safe. Participate. It really is YOUR industry. The direct link to download the entire magazine is available CADC Mag Winter 2015-2016